Imagine the possibilities

By Piet Van Leer Sports Central Columnist

In the future, they will look back at a time when there was no college playoff system and wonder how they ever managed. Miami will probably play Tennessee in the Rose Bowl, and the winner will be crowned national champion -- although I still can't figure out why Oregon is ranked behind Tennessee. They both have identical records, and they both suffered their only loss at home against a conference foe.

Tennessee did beat Florida, but how do we know how good Florida was? They were ranked No. 2, but then again, so were a lot of teams at one point. Florida's best victory of the year was against Florida State, who weren't their usual selves this year. So how do we know that the SEC teams are better than the Pac-10 ones? Still think there isn't an East Coast conspiracy?

Has anybody won two bigger games consecutively than Colorado? They humiliated Nebraska, went into Texas, and embarrassed Chris Simms and company. Who is playing better than Colorado right now? And what about Illinois? Their only loss, to Michigan, was sandwiched around ten wins in the Big 10. I bet if Michigan had lost only once to Illinois, they would be in the top three because they are Michigan and have the history and legacy of a great team.

Same can be said for Maryland, whose only blemish came at the hand of the Seminoles. You can bet if Florida State's only loss is Maryland, they'd be considered top five.

BYU hasn't even been mentioned yet, and that could be the greatest oversight of all. They're undefeated! Granted, they haven't played the toughest of schools, which is exactly why a playoff is needed.

I've taken the liberty of conducting the First-Annual Pooky Poll with 62 of my closest colleagues and ranked the top 16 teams in the nation. After that, we will pair them off in first round games beginning next weekend in familiar March Madness form (No. 1 plays No. 16, No. 2 plays No. 15, and so on). The first and second round games will be played at the higher seed's house.

Without further ado, The Associated Pooky Poll (first place votes in parentheses):

1. Miami (62) 11-0
2. Oregon 10-1
3. Tennessee 10-1
4. Colorado 10-2
5. Nebraska 11-1
6. Illinois 10-1
7. Maryland 10-1
8. BYU (1) 12-0
9. Florida 9-2
10. Oklahoma 10-2
11. Texas 10-2
12. Washington St. 9-2
13. Stanford 9-2
14. Michigan 8-3
15. Syracuse 9-3
16. Georgia 8-3

Even though Washington did beat Michigan, Washington State, and Stanford, the committee could not overlook their embarrassing losses at the end of the season to Oregon State and Miami. Georgia gets the nod over South Carolina in spite of the Gamecocks' victory over the Bulldogs earlier in the year. They way the two teams finished was the difference in their selections.

Virginia Tech, losing at home to the Orangeman and being beaten by Pitt, needed to dethrone Miami to garner a spot. That being said, let's look at Saturday's matchups. ABC and ESPN will be showing one game each at the same time so we will have equal viewing for all eight games.

(16) Georgia at (1) Miami
(10) Oklahoma at (7) Maryland
(14) Michigan at (3) Tennessee
(12) Stanford at (5) Nebraska
(11) Texas at (6) Illinois
(13) Wash. St. at (4) Colorado
(9) Florida at (8) BYU
(15) Syracuse at (2) Oregon

I don't know about you, but I will be on my couch for about 14 hours straight. First, I can't wait for the Oklahoma/Maryland matchup. I'm curious as hell to see how good Maryland really is. Michigan at Tennessee is an unbelievable game in the first round. That could have been a final four game according to some of the prognosticators, and we're seeing that in the first round!

I'll also be flipping to the Nebraska/Stanford game, as well. The high-powered Cardinal could pose some problems for the Cornhuskers in Lincoln. The Texas/Illinois game should be a beauty! Texas is going to be miffed after losing to Colorado for the Big 12, but they're going to have bigger problems than being emotionally charged for this game. It'll be a cold December night for the Austin based Longhorns in Champaign next week, and Illinois and Kittner will be pumped to show the nation how good they are.

Finally, the most anticipated matchup of the day for me: Florida at BYU. Talk about cold, have you ever been to Utah in December? Florida will have to leave the cozy confines of Gainesville for the frozen field in Provo! How good is BYU, really? We'll find out against the high-octane Gators, not to mention their swiss cheese D, who should get a test against Luke Staley and company. I'm mildly curious to see how Oregon handles a battle-tested Syracuse squad, as well.

Now a lot of people have been chewing my ear off about this diminishes the importance of the regular season. Which is why we are playing the first two games at the higher seed's campus and redrawing after each round to make sure the highest seed draws the lowest seed. In March Madness, the brackets are set in stone, so if the No. 13-seed upsets the No. 4-seed and the No. 12-seed upsets the No. 5-seed, the No. 13 and No. 12 seeds square off.

But here, if Michigan upsets Tennessee, they won't necessarily be playing the winner of the Texas/Illinois game. If Michigan is the lowest seed still remaining, and Miami wins their first round game, then Michigan will have to travel to South Florida and face the Canes in a second round game. This will ensure the highest seeded teams have the easiest road to the Final Four (site to be determined, but I'm thinking there isn't a better place than New Orleans for New Years!).

Now, a lot of people have been harping on me that the regular season is too long. I agree! Which is why the regular season has been chopped down to a maximum of eleven games. Conferences have gotten so big that they play sometimes nine conference games during the regular season. There shouldn't be more than seven, not including the championship game (SEC and Big 12). So Nebraska might not play Texas Tech for five years or so, even though they're in the same conference. I don't that it's a problem. Husker fans won't even know Texas Tech is in their conference until Bobby Knight shows up on their campus in February with an all too tight sweater.

Some people will complain that this kills the college bowl system. No, it doesn't! They can still have the bowls, just without the top 16. They bowl advocates say no one will watch them without the top 16. Well, the bowls are played without the top eight and no one watches them now. Who can tell me last year's Insight.com Bowl's participants? The people playing the game, the people who live in the town of the Insight.com Bowl, and the alumni who went to the game. And that's it. I could get higher ratings with an Ivy League squash match.

I can't see how this format is less money for anyone. In fact, with the ratings this will generate for four weeks, it should surpass the BCS ratings, which will mean more money for everyone, except John Delany and Roy Kramer, who won't be able to just pit an SEC and Big 10 team in the final two games like they can now with their puppet controlled BCS system.

The only problem I foresee is what to do about my lunch and the dog. Since I'll be on the couch all day, I don't know when I can take care of those things. Oh wait, overlapping halftimes.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.